Let us begin with the culminating request of the final apparition: we are invited to wear the scapular of the Sacred Heart (great graces will be given to those who wear it with confidence and to those who promote it), and out of love for Jesus, we are asked to make up for those who sin against the Blessed Sacrament. (A similar message, coupled with devotion to Our Lady’s own Immaculate Heart, will be given in Fatima in 1917.)
How can we “make up” (expiate, make reparation) for the sins of others? Estelle is told that she will not be spared suffering in her life, since embracing suffering makes life meritorious; an attitude of resignation expiates for sins.
Further, Estelle is told that her five days of suffering is linked with devotion to the five wounds of Christ. Our Lady appears wearing the emblem of the Heart of Jesus, crowned with thorns – the fifth wound. We are asked to wear this livery – to place upon ourselves the suffering of Christ. As Christians, we are invited to unite our own sufferings to those of Jesus on the Cross (Col 1:24), to share in His work of redeeming humanity – not because Jesus lacks something only we can provide, but because he invites us to do so as members of his own Body. We are free to complain about our sufferings, or to “offer them up” cheerfully.
It also follows that we must ensure that our own attitude to Holy Communion is reverent. Our Lady also highlights a broader concern about Christians’ lukewarm approach to prayer, an attitude of willingly allowing distractions and external concerns to creep into prayer.
Estelle is invited to a trustful simplicity – she doesn’t need to know God’s big picture in order to play the part which has been entrusted to her. In fact, her lack of calmness causes Our Lady not to visit her on at least two occasions. The Church and State authorities in France are also urged to be “calm”. Another aspect of simplicity is to remember that there is no need for duplicity or false promises – “let your actions correspond with your words,” says the Mother of God.
It is clear from Estelle’s first two encounters with Our Lady and a demon, that formal entrustment to Mary brings a special protection from demons. Estelle was enrolled in the “Children of Mary” – presumably she was wearing a medal of the Immaculate Conception. To wear that medal is a personal request from the wearer to Our Lady, to obtain graces and protection on their behalf, including graces they don’t know they need to ask for. Wearing the Pellevoisin Scapular, by contrast, implies embracing a serious commitment to prayer and reparation, uniting oneself to the sufferings of Jesus.
Finally, Our Lady makes it clear that, at her request, Jesus can touch the most hardened hearts – she has come especially for the conversion of sinners. But no instructions are given for use of the Pellevoisin Scapular as a tool of conversion. The Green Scapular, fruit of revelations to a religious sister in France in 1840 and 1846, is an instrument of conversion – it may be given to the person whose conversion is desired, while the giver prays daily on their behalf, “Immaculate heart of Mary, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” The Fatima Prayer, requested as an addition to each decade of the rosary by Our Lady at Fatima, also seeks the conversion of sinners explicitly. But no special indication is given at Pellevoisin – the implication may be that by making reparation for sinners, especially those who offend against the Blessed Sacrament, we will obtain the grace of conversion for some of them.
© Revd Dr Gareth Leyshon, 2010. Permission freely granted to copy this text as long as the content is unedited and the source attributed.
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